A Visit to General Iroh
by Verisimilitude1218
Summary: Korra and Asami visit General Iroh in the Spirit World. A fluffy, sweet, one shot.


"See, I told you we weren't lost!" Korra said. She pointed to a cozy-looking building sitting in the middle of a field, right at the base of a majestic mountain. "I know exactly where we are."

"And where exactly is that?" Asami asked.

"It's a surprise," Korra said and tugged on Asami's arm, " Come on. You're going to love it."

They had been the in the Spirit World for a little over two days, and Asami still seemed awe-struck. Korra couldn't blame her. She had never seen the Spirit World like this before, all the colors seemed brighter, and she even saw colors she didn't even recognize. Most of the trees seemed to sway back and forth as they passed as though they were trying to bow. And Korra could swear she heard music, but couldn't tell where it was coming from. It was like a whole new world.

_"Is the Spirit World always like this?" Asami had asked her after they had first entered. She bent down next to a shimmering flower and studied it for a moment. Then she plucked it from it's place and handed it to Korra. Korra waited a moment before taking it, unsure of how the spirits would react. When none came, Korra placed it in her hair._

_ "Not always," she replied. She glanced along the path, looking for something that she might be able to give Asami._

As they walked, hand-in-hand, Korra became all too aware of how soft Asami's hand was and how rough and calloused her own was. Asami had invited her to the spa, before the wedding to get her hair and nails done but Korra had turned it down. She had stayed behind at Air Temple Island to help Pema get the kids ready. Now, she regretted it.

They didn't even have a chance to knock on the door before Iroh opened it. He was dressed in the same simple clothes she last saw him in. "Avatar Korra, I've been expecting you," his gravely, comforting voice said, "Please come in."

They entered the little shop, which was actually much bigger on the inside. There were about two dozen round wooden tables, some had chairs while others had little cushions in various colors. No spirits were in, which she thought was odd but elected not to say anything about it.

"And who this lovely young lady?"

"General Iroh, this is Asami Sato, she's my… girlfriend." The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them. She felt her face turn bright red and she looked towards Asami, who was smiling.

She bowed, "It is a pleasure to meet you General Iroh. Korra insisted on coming here. She said you served the best tea in all of the Spirit World."

"And that would be true. I only say that because there is no other place in the Spirit World that that serves tea, and therefore no reason to be modest. Sit down, and I will make you two a special brew of mine."

Korra choose a cozy table in corner of the room, that had a bunch of fluffy cushions to sit. Asami sat right next to her, making it impossible for either them to move an arm without knocking into each other. Rather than sitting properly, with their legs tucked under themselves or in the lotus-position, they sat with their legs tangled up together like vines.

"Try this, it is a tea made with leaves from plants sound only in the Spirit World. I hope you enjoy it."

Iroh came out with a tray with a steaming teapot, three cups and a large cake topped with strawberries. He insisted on serving them both. He poured the tea, sliced the cake and placed a generous portion of it on to each of the three plates.

"It all looks delicious," Korra said and proceeded to take a bite of cake. Sweet, and moist, without tasting only like sugar or being too squishy. Perfect.

Asami sipped the tea. Her eyes widened for a moment. "Korra, you need to try this."

Korra took a sip out of her own cup. It truly was delicious. A little bitter, but it complimented the cake very well. It tasted slightly familiar, but she couldn't place the herb or where she had last tasted it.

"A toast," Iroh said, "to both new friends and old." He raised his cup. Korra and Asami followed.

"To new adventures," Asami said.

"To new loves," Korra said.

They drank. Nobody said anything but Korra felt Asami place her hand in hers and then weave her fingers between the spaces in hers. She tightened her grip. She turned her head so that she's facing Korra, and the two shared a longing glance and a smile. Korra wanted to kiss her. Feel her lips on her own. And look into her beautiful, jade-green eyes…

When they looked away, she noticed that Iroh was smiling at them kindly, and with a twinkle in his eye. But he took a sip of tea, and pretended as though there was nothing wrong or nothing was odd about their interaction.

"Korra, I do not remember, do you play Pai Sho?"

"I do not, but Asami does. She's the best player I've ever seen."

Asami turned bright red at the compliment.

"Is that so? Would you like to play then, Miss Sato?"

She nodded.

Iroh escorted her to a table that had Pai Sho board etched into it. The two sat down across from each other on little pillows. Korra pulled up a chair to the table with the board and turned it backwards so that the backside of the chair faced the table. Korra sat with her legs spread and watched the two settle down to play a round of Pai Sho. , Iroh bought out a small leather bag, opened it and doled out the pieces.

It was a slow game. Both Asami and Iroh took their time with every turn. Iroh had gone first, and Asami took at least five minutes deciding her first move.

"Interesting choice," Iroh said,

Asami just smiled in a knowing way.

Korra's eyes followed the action, but mostly she looked at Asami. She was beautiful. She rested her head on hand and stared at her. She tried to pay attention to the game but her attention was always turned back to Asami.

Over the years, she had grown from hating her, because she was dating Mako, to being head-over heels in love with her. She was positive she loved her. Not as a sister. Not as a friend. As something so much more. She loved her. There was no other way to say it. She loved her like she had loved Mako. Perhaps even more That much she knew. And she was pretty damn sure Asami loved her back.

Somehow she managed to shake herself out of the day-dream, somehow. Just in time to see Asami and Iroh finishing their game. Korra didn't know much about Pai Sho, but she was pretty sure Asami was winning. Iroh was stroking his beard, trying to think. He started out to move one but changed his mind and moved another tile, one with a white lotus on it. Asami immediately smiled and moved another tile.

"I win," she said with mischievous grin.

Iroh's eyes widenend with surprise. "You beat me…Nobody has beaten me. Not in a very long time at least. Congratulations." He stood up and bowed, then motioned for Korra to follow him. She did.

"Not only is she very beautiful, but she is also very intelligent, and still has a good soul. That is a rare combination to find. Not only that, it is even rarer for one to find a woman like that who they love and who loves them back. You are very lucky, Avatar Korra. Never let anyone tell you otherwise." He smiled and patted her shoulder.

"I won't," she replied, and then glanced down to the floor. Could he tell that she was unsure? And she wasn't even sure why she felt that way.

"Love is love, Avatar Korra. There is no denying that you have feelings for Asami that go beyond mere friendship. It is clear that she has similar feelings for you. There is nothing wrong with matter what anyone tells you, your love is as real and pure as the love between any other couple." He motioned for Asami to come over and then joined their hands together and smiled again, "We can't control whom we fall in love with any more than we can control the movement of the sun or stars. And if the love between two people is strong enough, no force in the world, in any world will be able to stop it. Not even death. Your bond is among the strongest I have seen. You two will do well." He smiled widely. Comfortingly.

Korra felt tears stream down her face and through her blurry vision saw. Tears welling up in Asami's. Korra threw her arms around her neck and kissed her. Her lips tasted like sugar, strawberries, and the tea that they had just drank. They were soft and tender. The kiss itself was like nothing Korra had ever felt. Eventually, she pulled away.

And for a moment she was afraid of how Asami would react.

Asami pulled Korra into a kiss, wrapping her arms around her. Korra reciprocated, and wrapped her arms around Asami's neck. The second kiss was even better than the first one. If she could choose one moment to live in for the rest of her life, it would be this. Eventually they both came up for air, and rather than kissing again they held each other tightly, pressed their foreheads together and stared into each others eyes for what seemed like hours.

"We should probably get going," Korra said breathless her heart beating at a million miles a minute. "We need to make camp…I was think we would camp on the mountain…

"We can always camp at the base and climb up in the morning."

"Sounds perfect."

Iroh offered up some beds for the night. They thanked him, but rejected his offer saying that they wanted to get an early start and didn't want to disturb him in the morning. Iroh nodded and bid them farewell, but only after giving them a bag full of food, bread and packets of tea for their journey.

They walked out of the cottage, hand-in-hand into the valley where the moon was hung high in the air, surrounded by shimmering stars with tingle of each kisses still on their lips.


End file.
